Wasilla [Alaska] man constructing 18-foot-tall not-a-robot [Archive]

Jacks Complete

February 6th, 2005, 09:02 PM

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/011705/sta_20050117006.shtml
<mcc head="">
Wasilla man constructing 18-foot-tall not-a-robot</mcc>

 
Machine may prove helpful by shooting nine-inch nails from the shoulders and 20-foot flames from forearms </mcc>
 

By RACHEL D'ORO
 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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<tr class="photocredit"> <td align="right"> Al Grillo / The Associated Press </td> </tr>
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It's good to have large friends: Carlos Owens Jr. stands next to his
18-foot tall hydraulic "mecha" earlier this month at his parents' house
in Wasilla. Owens envisions the humanoid machine he's building will
shoot nine-inch nails from the shoulders and 20-foot flames from the
forearms.</td> </tr>
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WASILLA - As Carlos Owens Jr. envisions it, the humanoid machine he's
building will shoot nine-inch nails from the shoulders and 20-foot
flames from the forearms. "You've got to have flame-throwers!" he says.
The red backlit eyes of his
18-foot hydraulic mecha - please don't call it a robot - will glow, but
they're just for show. Five cameras will be the real eyes, allowing the
operator riding inside the steel contraption to see via a laptop
computer and flatscreen monitor rigged inside.
When it's all done, he'll
have a walking exoskeleton that will make him stronger than a grizzly
bear, he said. So what if this is the stuff of science fiction
fantasies?
"I'm 110 percent positive
this will work," the soft-spoken apprentice ironworker said during a
recent break from the all-consuming project taking shape in his
parent's back yard. "Failure is not an option. I have no choice but to
do this. If I don't do it, I will explode."
So great is his confidence
that Owens, 27, already has arranged to debut his mecha at a demolition
show where it will bash cars this summer at a local racetrack just
north of Anchorage.
And that's only the beginning
for the Philippines-born offspring of retired Air Force members. Owens,
a former heavy equipment mechanic with the Army Reserves, imagines
mechas boxing in arenas, fighting wildfires, repairing distant space
stations, even fighting enemy soldiers in battle. The U.S. military has
spent millions and a half decade developing a limited exoskeleton to
help soldiers carry supplies.
Owens figures his prototype, which he began building in October 2003, will set him back about $20,000.
Standing in his parents' back
yard on a subfreezing morning in January, the 6-foot-5 Owens was
dwarfed by the slouching rusty red exoskeleton.
It's the culmination of two
previous attempts and a lifetime fascination with the inner workings of
machinery. A 35-foot wooden template built in 2001 now lies folded in
another part of the property. In the winter of 2002 Owens began
building a 25-foot mecha, which turned out too great for his shoestring
budget. He scaled down, transferring the steel parts to the present
project he covers with a tarp to shield it from the snow.
Besides mild steel -
stainless would be too expensive - 23 hydraulic cylinders are woven
throughout, giving the mecha 46 possible movements. An 18-horsepower
gas engine will provide the power and a car battery the juice for the
computer, cameras, lights and sound effects. Fiberglass skin will allow
the operator to stay fully hidden.
Much of the parts have come from auto parts stores and online vendors.
Owens plans to pad a central
compartment in which to operate the mecha, controlling it with his own
movements. When he lifts a leg or flexes an arm so will his creation,
according to the plan. The finished product will be painted black with
red trim and will look like a giant robot, he says.
Success hinges on finding a
way to balance a machine packing 3,500 pounds per square inch. To
counter the possibility of falling down inside his steel armor, Owens
has built the bottom half to weigh far more than the top. He's also
installed "training feet" to rely on until he gets the hang of it.
"It's costing me a bit, but that's OK," he said. "Dreams don't come cheap."
The germ of that dream was
sparked in childhood with his first look at "The Transformers"
cartoons, further fueled by sci-fi movies, such as "Star Wars" and the
"Alien" series. Don't even get him started on the implications explored
last summer by the Will Smith flick, "I, Robot."
No wonder his parents take his current obsession in stride. They recall
the times he raided scrap yards, once bringing home a lawnmower to
simply take it apart. When he was seven, he dismantled a toy robot and
put it back together. As a teenager, he wanted to build a boat, but his
mother, Randi Owens, quickly put her foot down. Now she just watches as
her son works on his most ambitious endeavor to date, even on the
coldest days when numb hands are no excuse to quit.
"He eats, sleeps and drinks this thing," Randi Owens said. "This is his passion."Well, this is an improvised weapon... A giant Mecha! Of course, he has about zero chance of not getting crushed or drowned when it falls over!

Silentnite

February 6th, 2005, 09:16 PM

Too bad we just found out about this. What a great christmas present that would be....

On the worthwhile side, I wonder how hard it would be to build a small version of this. Just an amplification of the human. Like a exoskeleton. Servo*s for the arms, and legs.

To the drawing board!

Jacks Complete

February 6th, 2005, 09:34 PM

The big issue is that the bigger you are, the faster you need to react to the slight wobbles, otherwise you have to push a bit harder to get back upright - and on a 20-ton machine, that's another manhole cover cracked. Or you push a little too hard, and you flip the other way.

If this could be done by a simple hydraulic system, it would be commonplace. Hydraulics just are not fast enough for this stuff. Pneumatics won't work because you can't stop the ram halfway, nor reverse it fast enough, plus it acts like a damned spring! You could try a hybrid system, but that triples the complexity, since you have pneumatic one side and hydraulic the other, so it is faster, and more controllable, but you need two sets of everything anyway, and now you need two air and two hydraulic pressure systems (for redundancy)

Someone comes up with a clever electrical linear actuator that isn't lethally explosive or stupid expensive (hydrogen sorption gas-rams), or with a good power to weight ratio (not most electrical systems for mobile use), and people will start building these things. Until then, it is a bit of a pipe dream.

The funniest bit about the article is he thinks that keeping it bottom heavy is going to help! It isn't a boat, it's a pendulum!

Edit: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/27/lizard_army_atacks_scotland/ is how I go onto this story. Well worth a read, like most stuf on El Reg.

Silentnite

February 6th, 2005, 10:17 PM

If something is encasing me, I would prefer that it be triple-redundant. I'd really like to not fall on my face and be crushed.

Bottom-heavy makes it more likely to not fall over?? He could make it three-legged if he's going through all the trouble. Or widen the stance, like on the Pontiac Grand Prix. They widened the wheel stance and lowered the center of gravity and now its better on turns.

You have to admire his enthusiasm though.

Jacks Complete

February 7th, 2005, 05:11 AM

Yes, it is a bit wacky.

I would love to have the space to do something on that scale. Heck, if he has got the set-up even semi-functional, he is close to a genius. Unless it responds as fast as a normal JCB system, in which case he is just an idiot with a welder.

If you take a look at the picture, it's too small, you can't see him well, nor the mecha. I suspect he will have to reort to having feet that have 20 feet of steel pipes sticking out either side, so it doesn't topple every time it lifts one foot.

You can see why all these schemes are doomed to fail, simply by standing on one leg, or walking really slowly with a large gait. When resting at ease, the weight is centrally distributed, equally on each foot. The moment you lift one foot, you will fall to the side of the foot you lifted. However, your brain, after years of automatically keeping you in balance, will shift your weight on your top half, bringing your CoG into line with your earth-bound foot. It does this by shifting the muscles in your torso to pull the rest of your body into line.

Why can't a robot bend over? Simple. It can't shift it's CoG to keep it between it's legs, over one foot, etc. so it falls. There are a few high-end robots that can do this, but they are far from everyday toys!

Edit: Searching more, I found:
http://news.com.com/Photos+Robotic+revolution/2009-1026_3-5500016-5.html?tag=st.num
which is a far better picture.

http://news.com.com/Giant+robots+in+the+backyard/2100-1026_3-5499730.html?tag=nl is a more in-depth article, though still not technical.

Jacks Complete

February 8th, 2005, 08:23 PM

To continue this little bit of post whoreing (why isn't anyone else posting?) I thought I would tell everyone about the rather good book I just got off Amazon, which is called "Build your own combat robot"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0072194642/qid=1107908174/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_8_2/026-3047664-9762024

I give it five stars, as the reviews of various ways of doing things are well thought out, it covers all different power systems and weapons, rules, safety, materials, etc.

The review on Amazon says "The information in this book, with exception to the roboteers own comments in there, can all be found on websites, which spoiled this book a bit for me." which is a weird thing to say. Yes, you can get a datasheet for a part off the web, but you need a book like this to tell you a way to use the part, and further, that you can even do the thing that way useing said part. You could say it about the Bible, and it would be true, but just as meaningless! (In fact, more so, since there is a lot in the book that you can't find on the web!)

Anyone planning to build a large walking mecha/robot should read this and try some smaller designs first.

Chris The Great

February 8th, 2005, 11:26 PM

Well, balance is a real problem. Building a big walking robot is somewhat simple, assuming you have the money and time, but getting it to balance while moving over varying terrain is going to be the big problem.

The way I assume the problem could be solved would be to allow the legs to shift from side to side where they attach to the torso. This would allow the upper part to shift to be centered over the foot that is on the ground while the other is in the air. The problem of course is that the swaying motion may have it fall over as well.
Perhaps a gyroscope would help keep it from swaying to much, which would somewhat solve the balance problem.

For moving parts, there are a type of motors, I can't remember the name, that are narrow, like a disk instead of a cynlinder like most motors, and whatever you want to move is attached directly to the armature. The amount of torque available is massive, which is what you would need to move a walking robot death machine, but the rpms are very low. This is exactly what would be needed, as I highly doubt gears would be able to handle the amount of force being put onto them, and they would take up more room and be one more thing to have fail. If superconducting wire is used then the motor will be able to handle the massive currents it will need to operate. Stick some BIG electrolytic supercapacitores to give the motors massive amounts of juice when they move, and that will allow them to move quickly and you won't need as big of a power supply as it won't need to supply such high peak currents.

Silentnite

February 9th, 2005, 04:00 AM

That picture is freaking Sweet.

Triple redundancy would be nice, especially if it is encasing me.

I know that a 20ft tall behemoth would be kinda hard to stablize, but what about a small 7ft exoskeleton. With room for the pilot, along with a submarine type ballast system. Two tanks side by side, flush one out to the other when taking steps. It seems like its feasible at least.

Microtek

February 9th, 2005, 10:37 AM

I read an article on something like this in Scientific American ( I think ) once. It was about the military attempts at constructing a working exo-skeleton that was actually practical. The conclusion was that with contemporary technology, electrical and hydraulic power systems were simply too heavy.
Instead they focused on small internal cumbustion engines functioning as muscles. So, no large central engine, just small ones where they are needed. This means that there is little need for heavy hydraulic tubes or other ways of diverting power.

Jacks Complete

February 10th, 2005, 03:40 PM

The issue with having multiple IC engines is that you are going to have a hell of a time running fuel lines everywhere, cooling water, radiators, etc. unless the thing is huge. And failure points? Hundreds, for every joint. Unless it is 300ft tall and crushing houses in one hand, it isn't going to be worth it.

I've heard about a similar idea for hydraulics, where you put an electric pump and some fluid with the cylinder, and you then control the hydraulic system as an electrical unit, so you don't have high pressure pipes going everywhere, just control wires and power (or even just two dc power lines) You can't wreck that system by killing a single pump, nor by cutting a single fluid line.

I think the biggest issue with stability, in real life, is the slopes and lumps encountered. Topple him by getting him to walk up a 30 degree slope! Reaches the limit of travel for the joints, over he falls. Even better, a ten degree grassed bank! Feet slide from underneath, the recovery is a bit slow, and bang! Down he goes. Humans have trouble with it, so a robot is fucked. (Though soon enough it will be simple enough to run the stabilty routines fast enough that the effect of any non-explosive event will be determined before the inertia has chance to get going. Give it ten years, and even explosive events won't be fast enough!)

Drowning, as the pilot, would be my worst fear. That beastie is going to sink like a lead balloon, so falling through a bridge or sliding or sinking into mud or silt would be a nightmare. Remember, the ground pressure loading will be very high, if it is bi-pedal.

A 7ft exoskeleton is going to be even harder. At 25ft, you can have plenty of room, and crumple zones. At 7ft, you are going to lose your legs if it does, and if you trip, and rip off the leg of the robot with the other leg? Bad luck, and don't come crawling to me!

If you want to see a crude bi-pedal robot, take a look at the way the RoboSapien walks. It lifts a leg, then shifts the top mass to the side (hips) whilst flailing the arms, then puts the foot forward and down, then repeats for the other side. Crude, but it works. Of course, wires and rubble are beyond it - even a rug will tip it up! The feet each hold 2 D cell batteries, so he is very, very bottom heavy, too. It has no idea of balance, it is just purely mechanical. With a "brain" for doing a balance calculation, a 10mm thick rug would not cause it to fall, as it would simply tilt the hips slightly...

The key to balance is as much the strain sensors in your leg muscles and pressure sensors in your feet as the inner ear, btw. Otherwise, everyone would fall over walking bent double, or looking up at the sky. Few people have realised this.

akinrog

February 11th, 2005, 02:53 AM

I recently watched a documentary about robots (I know the above referred thingy is not robot but an exo-skeleton). The recent trend is to imitate real life cases, i.e. use tendons to move certain limbs / organs, etc.
As you know human and primate hands do not have extensor musles but only flexor muscles. When a primate hand flexes (closes) it uses flexor muscles, but when it extends (opens), it uses tendons to do so. And robotics engineers are using this (already available) technology together with some pneumatic systems. Maybe it is better to use this approach instead of using several miniature IC engines and /or several hydraulic cylinders/lines.

Microtek

February 11th, 2005, 04:53 AM

Tendons are what connects muscles to bones, they don't contract themselves.
Regarding the IC-motor-at-every-joint idea, they were really very small. About the size of a small match box. The fuel lines required wouldn't be much thicker than electrical wiring.
I don't know if they ever got it to work, however. It was just a review article.

Chris The Great

February 12th, 2005, 09:10 PM

Just something that occured to me while walking home from school yesterday.

My mind strayed to this thread, and I happened to look down at my feet. I noticed that I was not shifting my balance to keep upright while walking, and that for a short time I only had one foot on the ground in a very unbalanced position. I thought "hmmmm, it seems that I have no problem balancing while walking, but standing on one foot seems to be fairly difficult." This sent my thoughts to biking, and how it is nearly impossible to keep the bike balanced at slow speeds, but once it starts moving fast enough the forward momentum keeps in balanced. I would assume the same principle applies somewhat to people walking.
If that is true, then the robot would need a gyroscope to keep it from tipping when sudden force or unbalance is encountered (being shot, stepping on abrams tanks, etc) and would only need to shift the balance alot when moving slowly. Once it got to a certain speed the forward momentum would be enough to keep it upright.

Or, I could be wrong, but it makes sense.

akinrog

February 12th, 2005, 10:11 PM

Tendons are what connects muscles to bones, they don't contract themselves.

I am aware of it sir. However what I am trying to say in the documentary the robotics engineers constructed a hand robot (which closely resembles the hand in both functionality and shape but without skin) which uses tendons to transfer linear movement of the some engines /motors, etc.

For example fold your sleeves and extend your forearm to front with your palm looks upward. When you move your middle finger towards your palm (close) you will notice a tendon becomes tense on your forearm. And when you turn your palm downward and open your middle finger again you shall notice tendons on the back of your palm and wrist shall become tense. Similarly the robotics engineers of the documentary was using tendons to transfer linear movement of some engines thereby creating a quite thin and streamlined hand which closely resembles a human hand (in both functionality and shape). The hand in question is capable of holding an egg without breaking.

Silentnite

February 12th, 2005, 11:17 PM

Tendons are responsible for your muscles ability to move your body. See Def:

Main Entry: ten·don
Pronunciation: 'ten-d&n
Function: noun
: a tough cord or band of dense white fibrous connective tissue that unites a muscle with some other part, transmits the force which the muscle exerts, and is continuous with the connective-tissue epimysium and perimysium of the muscle and when inserted into a bone with the periosteum of the bone

skier4life99

February 24th, 2005, 05:24 PM

I am aware of it sir. However what I am trying to say in the documentary the robotics engineers constructed a hand robot (which closely resembles the hand in both functionality and shape but without skin) which uses tendons to transfer linear movement of the some engines /motors, etc.

For example fold your sleeves and extend your forearm to front with your palm looks upward. When you move your middle finger towards your palm (close) you will notice a tendon becomes tense on your forearm. And when you turn your palm downward and open your middle finger again you shall notice tendons on the back of your palm and wrist shall become tense. Similarly the robotics engineers of the documentary was using tendons to transfer linear movement of some engines thereby creating a quite thin and streamlined hand which closely resembles a human hand (in both functionality and shape). The hand in question is capable of holding an egg without breaking.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but anyone who's taken a college level A&P course should know that the human hand has both flexors and and extendors... the index, middle, and pinky finger all have their own, while the ring 'shares' off of the middle. (which is why you can't extend your ring finger if the rest of your fingers are clenched in a fist.) the reason the tendon 'becomes tense' is because there is a muscle in your forearm pulling on it.

BUT, back to the thread, if you check out the link, that thing looks so much like a transformer, he wasn't kidding about his inspiration; but I couldn't help thinking, "what's the escape plan for the driver if the thing falls on the side that the driver enters/exits from??" I could only imagine climbing in from the back and then having it fall over backwards...

Jacks Complete

March 10th, 2005, 07:40 PM

Yes, but the tendon also has an elasticity of its own. It acts a bit like a stiff spring, and also stops sudden shocks from damaging the muscle. They also hold you together, such as the tendons around and over the kneecap, without the use of muscles.

Cables and wires as force transmission devices raise other issues. Suddenly you need guides, you need to make sure they don't wear on each other or on static parts. The friction and hence force is higher, so power drain goes up, and wires plus actuators weight more than actuators alone. And you still need the motors/actuators somewhere. Your parts count also goes through the roof. You also lose flexibility, since now those two joints always have to work together, while before they were driven independantly.

You can combine the actuator with the tendon, of course, and use something like the Nitinol wires, but they are generally far too slow, with only 10% change in length, though very powerful.

I invented one totally new type, but someone else patented it already, using a twisted skein. I'd be rich now, if it had been me who patented it!

One of the best linear actuators is the new(ish) "shadow muscle". I've seen them used to good effect in grippers and hands, but no-one seems to have quite gotten the hang of them yet. They use low pressure compressed air and a net. You can get the same effect by getting a net stocking or one of those orange tangerine socks, and putting a balloon in it. As you inflate the balloon, the mesh widens, and pulls the ends in. http://www.shadow.org.uk/products/airmuscles.shtml shows far more.

As regards the Alaskan Snow Beast, I would worry more about that thing sinking into a bog or falling through a weak bridge. You would drown if it fell over into a puddle, too.

I seriously doubt he will ever get it to take three steps.

EDIT: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7113 is funny. Some new type of acid activated actuator gets whipped by a girl.

Jacks Complete

March 10th, 2005, 07:40 PM

Yes, but the tendon also has an elasticity of its own. It acts a bit like a stiff spring, and also stops sudden shocks from damaging the muscle. They also hold you together, such as the tendons around and over the kneecap, without the use of muscles.

Cables and wires as force transmission devices raise other issues. Suddenly you need guides, you need to make sure they don't wear on each other or on static parts. The friction and hence force is higher, so power drain goes up, and wires plus actuators weight more than actuators alone. And you still need the motors/actuators somewhere. Your parts count also goes through the roof. You also lose flexibility, since now those two joints always have to work together, while before they were driven independantly.

You can combine the actuator with the tendon, of course, and use something like the Nitinol wires, but they are generally far too slow, with only 10% change in length, though very powerful.

I invented one totally new type, but someone else patented it already, using a twisted skein. I'd be rich now, if it had been me who patented it!

One of the best linear actuators is the new(ish) "shadow muscle". I've seen them used to good effect in grippers and hands, but no-one seems to have quite gotten the hang of them yet. They use low pressure compressed air and a net. You can get the same effect by getting a net stocking or one of those orange tangerine socks, and putting a balloon in it. As you inflate the balloon, the mesh widens, and pulls the ends in. http://www.shadow.org.uk/products/airmuscles.shtml shows far more.

As regards the Alaskan Snow Beast, I would worry more about that thing sinking into a bog or falling through a weak bridge. You would drown if it fell over into a puddle, too.

I seriously doubt he will ever get it to take three steps.

EDIT: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7113 is funny. Some new type of acid activated actuator gets whipped by a girl.

Jacks Complete

March 10th, 2005, 07:40 PM

Yes, but the tendon also has an elasticity of its own. It acts a bit like a stiff spring, and also stops sudden shocks from damaging the muscle. They also hold you together, such as the tendons around and over the kneecap, without the use of muscles.

Cables and wires as force transmission devices raise other issues. Suddenly you need guides, you need to make sure they don't wear on each other or on static parts. The friction and hence force is higher, so power drain goes up, and wires plus actuators weight more than actuators alone. And you still need the motors/actuators somewhere. Your parts count also goes through the roof. You also lose flexibility, since now those two joints always have to work together, while before they were driven independantly.

You can combine the actuator with the tendon, of course, and use something like the Nitinol wires, but they are generally far too slow, with only 10% change in length, though very powerful.

I invented one totally new type, but someone else patented it already, using a twisted skein. I'd be rich now, if it had been me who patented it!

One of the best linear actuators is the new(ish) "shadow muscle". I've seen them used to good effect in grippers and hands, but no-one seems to have quite gotten the hang of them yet. They use low pressure compressed air and a net. You can get the same effect by getting a net stocking or one of those orange tangerine socks, and putting a balloon in it. As you inflate the balloon, the mesh widens, and pulls the ends in. http://www.shadow.org.uk/products/airmuscles.shtml shows far more.

As regards the Alaskan Snow Beast, I would worry more about that thing sinking into a bog or falling through a weak bridge. You would drown if it fell over into a puddle, too.

I seriously doubt he will ever get it to take three steps.

EDIT: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7113 is funny. Some new type of acid activated actuator gets whipped by a girl.

Third_Rail

March 11th, 2005, 01:17 AM

I saw this a while back... It didn't sound like it would work then, it sure doesn't sound like it would work now.

He's going about it all wrong, especially in keeping it bottom heavy.

At least it's not a total waste. A couple of flamethrowers and he has a demolition derby prop! :D

Third_Rail

March 11th, 2005, 01:17 AM

I saw this a while back... It didn't sound like it would work then, it sure doesn't sound like it would work now.

He's going about it all wrong, especially in keeping it bottom heavy.

At least it's not a total waste. A couple of flamethrowers and he has a demolition derby prop! :D

Third_Rail

March 11th, 2005, 01:17 AM

I saw this a while back... It didn't sound like it would work then, it sure doesn't sound like it would work now.

He's going about it all wrong, especially in keeping it bottom heavy.

At least it's not a total waste. A couple of flamethrowers and he has a demolition derby prop! :D

akinrog

March 11th, 2005, 12:13 PM

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but anyone who's taken a college level A&P course should know that the human hand has both flexors and and extendors...

Skier, extensors and flexors are muscles not tendons. Look at the back of your palm, can you see over there any muscles? I cannot see on mine. You should not too, unless you are a mutant. Extending function is carried out by the tendons which are connected to the muscles on your forearm.

BTW, I agree complexities pointed out by Jacks Complete regarding friction and wear. The natural tendons do not suffer from wear since they are living tissues. And on the documentary I watched, I saw the so called shadow muscles, but they call it pneumatic muscles. Regards

akinrog

March 11th, 2005, 12:13 PM

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but anyone who's taken a college level A&P course should know that the human hand has both flexors and and extendors...

Skier, extensors and flexors are muscles not tendons. Look at the back of your palm, can you see over there any muscles? I cannot see on mine. You should not too, unless you are a mutant. Extending function is carried out by the tendons which are connected to the muscles on your forearm.

BTW, I agree complexities pointed out by Jacks Complete regarding friction and wear. The natural tendons do not suffer from wear since they are living tissues. And on the documentary I watched, I saw the so called shadow muscles, but they call it pneumatic muscles. Regards

akinrog

March 11th, 2005, 12:13 PM

I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but anyone who's taken a college level A&P course should know that the human hand has both flexors and and extendors...

Skier, extensors and flexors are muscles not tendons. Look at the back of your palm, can you see over there any muscles? I cannot see on mine. You should not too, unless you are a mutant. Extending function is carried out by the tendons which are connected to the muscles on your forearm.

BTW, I agree complexities pointed out by Jacks Complete regarding friction and wear. The natural tendons do not suffer from wear since they are living tissues. And on the documentary I watched, I saw the so called shadow muscles, but they call it pneumatic muscles. Regards

Jacks Complete

March 13th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Well, tendons and joints have plenty of issues, but millions of years of evolution have led to a pretty good design, one which you will have fun matching anywhere else.

I've come up with some great ideas for robots, which combine some great tricks with some serious requirements in rather neat ways.

Looking around at stage and screen:-
Bladerunner, Terminator, etc. are great, but far beyond what is currently possible, especially the polymorphic ones.

The Droideka comes up as a very neat idea - fast road travel, stable weapons platform, quite tall for it's size. Certainly better than the other Star Wars droids.

Robocop is great. The human inside does all the work so you don't even need to worry about finding an AI, he's a human scale for a human world. ED209 is a bad design, a large clumsy walker that is top heavy and not on a human scale.

Jacks Complete

March 13th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Well, tendons and joints have plenty of issues, but millions of years of evolution have led to a pretty good design, one which you will have fun matching anywhere else.

I've come up with some great ideas for robots, which combine some great tricks with some serious requirements in rather neat ways.

Looking around at stage and screen:-
Bladerunner, Terminator, etc. are great, but far beyond what is currently possible, especially the polymorphic ones.

The Droideka comes up as a very neat idea - fast road travel, stable weapons platform, quite tall for it's size. Certainly better than the other Star Wars droids.

Robocop is great. The human inside does all the work so you don't even need to worry about finding an AI, he's a human scale for a human world. ED209 is a bad design, a large clumsy walker that is top heavy and not on a human scale.

Jacks Complete

March 13th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Well, tendons and joints have plenty of issues, but millions of years of evolution have led to a pretty good design, one which you will have fun matching anywhere else.

I've come up with some great ideas for robots, which combine some great tricks with some serious requirements in rather neat ways.

Looking around at stage and screen:-
Bladerunner, Terminator, etc. are great, but far beyond what is currently possible, especially the polymorphic ones.

The Droideka comes up as a very neat idea - fast road travel, stable weapons platform, quite tall for it's size. Certainly better than the other Star Wars droids.

Robocop is great. The human inside does all the work so you don't even need to worry about finding an AI, he's a human scale for a human world. ED209 is a bad design, a large clumsy walker that is top heavy and not on a human scale.

Silentnite

April 6th, 2005, 01:17 PM

Well, not suprising really, but the japanese have been the ones to build a walking Mech :D It's probably not the best quality, but I don't think this bodes well for the japanese. You'd think they'd learn their lesson after all of those movies.. :rolleyes:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp%2Fproducts%2Fother%2FLW.htm&lp=ja_en
That is the babelfish version of the site.
http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/images/lw4.jpg

Silentnite

April 6th, 2005, 01:17 PM

Well, not suprising really, but the japanese have been the ones to build a walking Mech :D It's probably not the best quality, but I don't think this bodes well for the japanese. You'd think they'd learn their lesson after all of those movies.. :rolleyes:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp%2Fproducts%2Fother%2FLW.htm&lp=ja_en
That is the babelfish version of the site.
http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/images/lw4.jpg

Silentnite

April 6th, 2005, 01:17 PM

Well, not suprising really, but the japanese have been the ones to build a walking Mech :D It's probably not the best quality, but I don't think this bodes well for the japanese. You'd think they'd learn their lesson after all of those movies.. :rolleyes:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp%2Fproducts%2Fother%2FLW.htm&lp=ja_en
That is the babelfish version of the site.
http://www.sakakibara-kikai.co.jp/products/other/images/lw4.jpg

Jacks Complete

April 9th, 2005, 03:10 PM

That link you posted is a joke! If you download the "Mecha walking" video, you will see it doesn't lift the feet off the ground, and it turns about a pivot. I strongly suspect that there are wheels hidden under the feet.

A more real one is at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624945.800 which shows an exo-skeleton that reads the nerve impulses, and actually reacts slightly faster than the wearer's normal limb! :-O

Ideal for winning fastest finger!

Jacks Complete

April 9th, 2005, 03:10 PM

That link you posted is a joke! If you download the "Mecha walking" video, you will see it doesn't lift the feet off the ground, and it turns about a pivot. I strongly suspect that there are wheels hidden under the feet.

A more real one is at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624945.800 which shows an exo-skeleton that reads the nerve impulses, and actually reacts slightly faster than the wearer's normal limb! :-O

Ideal for winning fastest finger!

Jacks Complete

April 9th, 2005, 03:10 PM

That link you posted is a joke! If you download the "Mecha walking" video, you will see it doesn't lift the feet off the ground, and it turns about a pivot. I strongly suspect that there are wheels hidden under the feet.

A more real one is at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624945.800 which shows an exo-skeleton that reads the nerve impulses, and actually reacts slightly faster than the wearer's normal limb! :-O

Ideal for winning fastest finger!